In a hay-making machine which has four wheels and is known from German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,410,453 the hay-making machine is secured by means of a three-point coupling device to the tractor and for transport and/or changing into a different operating position can be lifted through a tractor contained hydraulic lifting device. It is thereby still preferable that based on the relatively high weight of the machine, on the one hand, a strong tractor hydraulic system must exist and, on the other hand, to prevent a rearward tilting of said coupled unit about the rear tractor wheels the front end of the tractor must have a sufficient counterload--thus a tractor with substantially greater horsepower output (than is needed for the movement of the hay-making machine) is required, as it, however, is otherwise not needed in many agricultural operations and therefore is often also not available. Since in many tractors the three-point coupling device is lacking, the use of the known four-wheel, universally operating hay-making machines is limited.
A further disadvantage of the known construction is an interference with the driving characteristics of the tractor, in particular during transport.
Furthermore a special construction, in particular power distribution is required which is partially relatively expensive in construction and thus makes the whole unit expensive.
The purpose of the invention is to provide an improved hay-making machine of the above-mentioned type which has a large operating width and multiple use possibilities (tedding, turning, center windrowing, drawing of two individual windrows and the like) and is simply constructed. In addition, the machine has in particular a simple and long-life power transmission system--with favorable power transmitting paths which are arranged for serviceability as well as for steerabillity on tractors having lower horsepower output and no hydraulic lift and without influencing the driving characteristics of the tractor during transport and effecting the handleability of the machine.
Inventively these objectives are achieved in a hay-making machine of the above-mentioned type bypivotally connecting to the main machine frame a laterally swingable tongue which can be connected to the tractor and supports the main gearing for the machine and defines the connecting device, wherein between these parts there is arranged an inclination adjusting device, and from the main gearing each outer rotary rake is driven through a telescopelike drive shaft--seen transversely with respect to the direction of travel--and from the outer rotary rake, the inner rotary rake is driven through a longitudinally variable, preferably telescopelike drive shaft.
In a preferred manner this hay-making machine is constructed as a four-wheel universal machine having inner rotary rakes which are supported through direction-stabilized, fixable support wheels, in particular wheel pairs, and outer rotary rakes which are supported through freely pivotal support wheels, in particular individual wheels which are constructed as trailing wheels, and the main frame is pivotally connected to a forklike tongue which is bent in elevation approximately in the center longitudinal area by defining an obtuse angle with the ground and carries on the underside near the bent area, however, elevationally above the hitch on the tongue, the main drive for the rotary rakes which has preferably coaxial lateral outputs such that the drive shaft which couples the tractor power takeoff output with the input shaft to the main gearing is guided through the area of the elevationally bent portion of the tongue with an all around large clearance space (swiveling freedom). The tines can be noncontrolled or controlled and rigidly adjustable.
The inventively constructed hay-making machine is characterized, in spite of a large operating width and universal and ground-protecting operating use, by an easy handling characteristic, in particular a simple inclination adjustment characteristic, and through relatively small angled driving shafts which are only weakly loaded and have a long life. Since the inventive multi-wheel universal hay-making machine saves, compared with presently known constructions, gear units and drive shafts and, aside from a substantial construction simplification, a considerable lowering of the manufacturing expense is realized to make the machine have a great economic feasibility. Furthermore only few structural parts exist which are subjected to a mechanical stress and/or require service--from this results lesser wear, breakdown-free construction and a minimum service input. It is particularly advantageous that the hay-making machine can be arranged as a pulled implement usable with low horsepower tractors and tractors without hydraulic systems and thereby due to the special rotary rake support, on the one hand, applies to the ground only a small surface pressure by means of wheels of a proven size (however, in a special arrangement) and assures, on the other hand, also on hill sides that the laterally inclined hay-making machine will have a true track (without side slipping) machine travel in every desired direction, wherein also during travel around curves, due to a sufficient space for movement in all positions of travel, function interferences of the driving means will not occur. In addition, through the special construction of the rotary rake drive an extremely simple machine adjustment into the "tedding of two individual windrows" position is possible and for each rotary rake group only two telescopic shafts and the auxiliary frame need to be pulled apart.
In a preferred embodiment, each output shaft of the main gearing drives through a level gear another bevel gear which is associated with the rotary rake axis of rotation, from which the drive branches off at an acute angle to the driving bevel gear which is guided through auxiliary frame and which can be switched over with respect to the direction of rotation to a further rotary rake(s) through the bevel gears. The telescopelike drive shaft which drivingly connects the rotary rakes of a rotary rake group with one another can thereby have on its one end, preferably on the shaft part which extends into the gear housing of the rotary rake which is driven by the main gearing, two bevel gears which lie opposite one another in unchanged spacing and are arranged fixed with respect to rotation, and the drive shaft part which receives said bevel pinions can be axially movable, so that corresponding with the desired rotary rake direction of rotation one of the two bevel gears is adjustable into engagement with the bevel gear which is secured to the rotary rake axis of rotation and thus in a simple manner a shifting of the direction of rotation of the rotary rake which is arranged thereafter occurs.
In order to meet the requirement of a constant ground engagement of all support wheels, the wheel bearing axles of the double wheels which are associated with the inner rotary rakes are pivotal in a ground-adjusting manner about an axis which extends parallel to the direction of travel.
In order that during travel over of the material to be worked material which might be possibly carried along by the wheels is not wound up between the wheels of the twin support wheels around their axle, it is advantageous to associate with each twin support wheel in the gap between both wheels a material deflector which extends from the wheel bearing in direction of the rearward wheel perphery--this material deflector can be formed in a particular simple construction by a bar or angularly shaped portion of the wheel carrier.
In order to permit a simple changing of the machine into the transport position (with rotary rakes of each rotary rake group lying one behind the other in direction of travel), it is preferred and advantageous to uncouplably fix each drive shaft which extends from the main gearing to a rotary rake gearing, preferably at the end thereof adjacent the main-gearing by a releasable plug connection.
In addition, the purpose of the improved machine is attained, compared with the known arrangements, with respect to durability of, even in the case of impacts, to the adjusting spindle for the main frame inclination adjustment. This is accomplished by arranging the adjusting spindle in an elastic bearing part which is formed in particular by a ringlike or longitudinally slotted elastic rubber part, which is bent downwardly to form two adjusting spindle suspension points which lie one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the spindle and is suspended on a crossbar which is provided with a spindle through-hole. Based on this elastic adjusting spindle suspension, impacts which are caused by ground irregularities cannot lead to a function-interfering bending of the adjusting spindle.